PoliticsMaharashtra
Shinde predicts Mahayuti sweep of five Maharashtra Council seats, turns on opposition over drought aid
Graduates and teachers in Pune, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Amravati vote on 23 October. The Shiv Sena leader said the opposition was criticising relief it had asked for.
Key points
- Eknath Shinde said the ruling alliance will win all five graduates' and teachers' seats.
- Polling is on 23 October, with counting on 27 October.
- The opposition has questioned the drought package, including a ₹5,000 advance to farmers.
Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has predicted a clean sweep for Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance in next week’s elections to five Legislative Council seats chosen by graduates and teachers.
Speaking in Pune on Thursday, Shinde said the alliance partners were contesting together, barring a few exceptions, and would win every seat. Polling is on 23 October in the Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar graduates’ constituencies and the Pune and Amravati teachers’ constituencies. Votes will be counted on 27 October. Only registered graduates and teachers living in each constituency can vote.
In the Pune Division Teachers’ seat, the Shiv Sena is backing an independent, Sachin Sanap.
Shinde used the occasion to hit back at opposition parties over their criticism of the state’s drought relief, which includes an advance of ₹5,000 to farmers. “They had earlier demanded that drought be declared,” he said. “They are now criticising the government after it announced the drought.”
He said parties should set politics aside and stand with farmers in a hard season, and urged opposition leaders to “come together and support farmers” instead of attacking the government.
Uttar Pradesh is holding similar elections this month to 11 Legislative Council seats, with the Varanasi division seat polling on 24 October. There the contest has already turned bitter, with the Samajwadi Party asking the Election Commission to act against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for allegedly breaking the model code of conduct, and teachers using the campaign to press for the old pension scheme.